Monday, March 10, 2014

How Far Would You Go to Save a Life?

(March 13 is World
Kidney Day, a day for raising awareness about kidney disease. With that in
mind, here’s a column from 2014 about a Mennonite pastor who gave a bit more
than most to help others—one of her kidneys.)

Over 3,000 Canadians are on waiting lists for a
kidney transplant. Over 200 of them are in Manitoba. Many of these
people will die while on the waiting list.

Carol Penner thinks that's wrong. So wrong, she donated
a kidney herself to help someone who needed the life-saving procedure.

"These are needless deaths," she says of those
who will die before receiving help. "There are millions of
healthy kidneys in Canada."

Penner, pastor of Edmonton's Lendrum Mennonite
Brethren Church, was moved to donate one of her kidneys after her husband
lost one of his to cancer in 2008.

"I didn't realize how easy it is to live on one
kidney," says the 53 year-old. "There was no change in his
life."

After thinking about it for a couple of years, in
2011 she offered to donate a kidney as an undesignated donor--her
kidney would go to whoever needed it most. What followed was a year of
medical appointments, tests and questionnaires.

Once accepted, Penner--then the pastor of First
Mennonite Church in Vineland, Ontario--was put on the list to donate when
needed.

In October, 2012 she received a call and had surgery
to remove one of her kidneys. Soon after, someone living somewhere in
Canada received her gift of life.

Why did she do it?

"People across Canada are dying of kidney
disease," she says. "If I could save someone's life, why not do
that?"

Her faith also played an important role.

"Our body is the biggest gift God has given
us, especially if we've been given good health," she says.
"We can share it with someone who needs to get healthy."

Looking back, Penner says that donating a kidney was
"one of the most joyful things I have done in my life."

Now she is on a quest to encourage more people to
help save the lives of those awaiting a new kidney-starting with her
own denomination.

"As Mennonites, we could lead the way," she
says of the 200,000 or so Mennonites in Canada. If just a fraction
of that number donated a kidney, "we could wipe out the

waiting list in a year."

She acknowledges it won't be easy; giving a kidney
is quite a bit different than giving money to feed people who are
hungry, poor or sick in another part of the world.

But she thinks Mennonites, and other denominations and faith
groups, should still try.

"We are constantly encouraged to give money to
help others without needing to know who they are," she says.

"Why not do the same with a kidney? The rewards are
huge-you can save someone's life."

Penner has a blog about her experience of donating
a kidney, and is happy to correspond with people who are interested
in doing the same thing. Click here to visit it.